The next president and Congress will face serious decisions about our nation’s healthcare, including the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the solvency of Medicare, and how to slow the rising cost of health care. Republicans and Democrats have different approaches to health care policy and the presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have radically divergent positions on specific health programs. Realistically, however, whatever the outcome of the election, major changes in health policy will require detailed bipartisan negotiations and buy-in from the public and a vast array of healthcare stakeholders. The post-election challenge for the Congress and the White House will be to break out of partisan gridlock and work together to craft compromises that enable at least incremental progress toward a better-functioning health system.

Alice Rivlin, senior fellow in Economic Studies and the Center for Health Policy, and William Galston, senior fellow in Governance Studies, discuss the importance of bipartisanship in the United States and how current party divisions are detrimental to the economy.